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VOA慢速英语2009年-THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History

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Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

In July of eighteen sixty-one, Union soldiers from the North and Confederate soldiers from the South fought the first major battle in the American Civil War. They clashed at Manassas, or Bull Run, Virginia, less than fifty kilometers from Washington.

The Union soldiers fought fiercely. But two large Confederate forces broke the Union attack.

This week in our series, Harry1 Monroe and Kay Gallant2 tell about some of the other early battles of the Civil War.

VOICE ONE:
 
General George McClellan

Northerners had expected to win the battle of Bull Run. They believed the Confederacy would fall if the Union won a big military victory early in the war. Now, however, there was great fear that southern soldiers would seize Washington. The Union needed to build and train an army quickly.

President Abraham Lincoln named General George McClellan to do this. McClellan was thirty-four years old.

The young general had two important tasks. He must defend Washington from attack. And he must build an army to strike at enemy forces in Virginia. McClellan wasted no time. He put thousands of troops into position around the city. And he built forty-eight forts.

After this rush of activity, however, little more happened for a long time. McClellan told his wife: "I shall take my own time to make an army that will be sure of success. As soon as I feel my army is well-organized and well-trained and strong enough, I will force the rebels to a battle."

McClellan kept making excuses for why he would not move against the enemy. His excuses became a continuing source of trouble for President Lincoln. The public, the press, and politicians all demanded that McClellan do something. They wanted to win the war, and win it right away.

VOICE TWO:

McClellan commanded the biggest army in the Union, the Army of the Potomac. But it was not the only army. Others were battling Confederate forces in the West.

The Confederates had moved up through Tennessee into the border state of Kentucky. They built forts and other defensive3 positions across the southern part of the state. They also blocked as many railroads and rivers as they could.
 
General Ulysses Grant

Their job was to keep Union forces from invading the South through Kentucky. One of the Union generals in the area was Ulysses Grant.

Grant had served in the army for twenty years. He had fought in America's war against Mexico and had won honors for his bravery. When that war ended, he was sent to an army base far from his wife and children. He did not like being without them. And he did not like being an officer in peace time.

Grant began to drink too much alcohol. He began to be a problem. In eighteen fifty-four, he was asked to leave the army. When the Civil War started, Grant organized a group of unpaid4 soldiers in Illinois. With the help of a member of Congress, he was named a general.

All of the other Union Generals knew Ulysses Grant. Few had any faith in his abilities. They were sure he would always fail.

VOICE ONE:

Grant, however, had faith in himself and his men. He believed he could force Confederate soldiers to withdraw from both Kentucky and Tennessee. Then he would be free to march directly into the Deep South -- Mississippi.
 
Battle of Fort Donelson

Two Confederate forts stood in Grant's way. They were in Tennessee, close to the Kentucky border.

United States Navy gunboats captured the first, Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River. That fort was easy to attack and not well-defended. The fighting was over by the time Grant and his men got there.

The second, Fort Donelson, was nearby on the Cumberland River. It was stronger and defended by twenty thousand soldiers. Grant surrounded the fort and let the navy gunboats shell it. The fighting there lasted several days.

VOICE TWO:

At one point, the Confederates tried to break out of the fort and escape. They opened a hole in the Union line and began to retreat. Suddenly, however, their commanding officer decided5 it would be wrong to retreat. He ordered them back to the fort.

After that, there was no choice. The Confederates would have to surrender.

The commanding officer sent a message to General Grant. "What were the terms of surrender?" Grant's answer was simple. "No terms except unconditional6 and immediate7 surrender."

The Confederates gave up Fort Donelson. Grant took fourteen thousand prisoners.

It was the greatest Union victory since the start of the war. Ulysses Grant was a hero. Newspapers called him "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.

VOICE ONE:

After the Union victory at Fort Donelson, Confederate forces withdrew from Tennessee. They moved farther south and began to re-group at Corinth, Mississippi.

Confederate Generals hoped to build one big army to stop Ulysses Grant. They would have to move fast. Grant was marching toward Corinth with forty thousand men. Another thirty-five thousand, under the command of Don Buell, were to meet him on the way.

Grant arrived in the area first. He waited for Buell thirty kilometers from Corinth, near a small country meeting hall called Shiloh Church.

Confederate General Albert Sydney Johnston was waiting, too. He had more than forty thousand men, about the same as Grant. And he was expecting another twenty thousand. But when he learned that Grant was nearby, he decided not to wait. He would attack immediately.

VOICE TWO:

Johnston did not know it, but his attack came as a surprise to the Union army. Union officers had refused to believe reports that Johnston was on the move. They said his army was not strong enough to attack.

Union troops did not prepare defensive positions. They had no protection when the battle began.
 
Battle of Shiloh

The fighting at Shiloh was the bitterest of the war. It was not one battle, but many. Groups of men fought each other all across the wide battlefield. From a distance, they shot at each other. Close up, they cut each other with knives. The earth became red with blood. The dead and wounded soon lay everywhere.

At first, the Confederates pushed Grant's army back. They had only to break through one more line and victory would be theirs. But in the thick of the struggle, General Johnston was shot in the leg. The bullet cut through an artery8. Johnston bled to death before help arrived. Any hope for a southern victory at Shiloh died with him.

By the time the fighting began again the next day, General Buell had arrived to help Grant. The Confederate army retreated. The Union army let it go.

VOICE ONE:

Shiloh. The word itself came to mean death and destruction.

The battle of Shiloh had brought home to the American people -- both of the North and South -- the horror of war. It was the first time so many men -- one hundred thousand -- had fought against each other in the western world. It was the American people's first real taste of the bloodiness9 of modern warfare10.

As one soldier who fought there said: "It was too shocking, too horrible. I hope to God that I may never see such things again."

The North won the battle of Shiloh. But it paid a very high price for victory. More than thirteen thousand union soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing. On the Confederate side, more than ten thousand soldiers were killed or wounded.

The North celebrated11 the news of its victory. But joy quickly turned to anger when the public learned of the heavy losses. People blamed General Grant. They demanded that President Lincoln dismiss him.

Lincoln thought of the two men who were now his top military commanders: McClellan and Grant. They were so different. McClellan organized an army, and then did nothing. Grant organized an army, and moved.

Lincoln said of Grant: "I cannot do without this man. He fights."

We will continue our story of the Civil War next week.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Harry Monroe and Kay Galllant. Our series can be found online with transcripts12, podcasts and historical images at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow our programs at twitter.com/voalearnenglish. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.
___

This is program #100 of THE MAKING OF A NATION


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
2 gallant 66Myb     
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的
参考例句:
  • Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
  • These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。
3 defensive buszxy     
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的
参考例句:
  • Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题,使她警觉起来。
  • The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。
4 unpaid fjEwu     
adj.未付款的,无报酬的
参考例句:
  • Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
  • He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。
5 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
6 unconditional plcwS     
adj.无条件的,无限制的,绝对的
参考例句:
  • The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
  • My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。
7 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
8 artery 5ekyE     
n.干线,要道;动脉
参考例句:
  • We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
  • The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。
9 bloodiness 7f0011f87bcb0cf056d1ff2228ddb3d8     
n.血染;血污;残忍;野蛮
参考例句:
  • Though the bloodiness of the earthquake, Chinese nationality show the huge solidarity. 虽然这次残酷的残酷,中华民族显示出了强大的团结。 来自互联网
  • Yet the uprising itself did not come a surprise, only perhaps its speed and its bloodiness. 因而此次暴动发生并不意外,令人意外的可能只是它发生的速度和血腥性。 来自互联网
10 warfare XhVwZ     
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突
参考例句:
  • He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
  • Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。
11 celebrated iwLzpz     
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的
参考例句:
  • He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
  • The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。
12 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

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